That’s English teacher Mr. Lefferts of Kent Denver School, in the latest edition of The Sun Devil’s Advocate, quoting (I gather) former Kent English teacher Mr. Frechette. “I refuse to bore myself.” Indeed!
I went into teaching for a variety of reasons, one major one being that I find learning and knowledge endlessly entertaining. My life has been devoted to unboring myself. Teaching math at a charter school in Denver is just the latest manifestation.
Yes, it’s selfish, but I think selfish acts serve community ends and I hope my unboring teaching means driving the boringness out for my students.
Today after calculus class when some students had left for the pep rally (earlier than they were supposed to, my bad) and others were hanging in the pod with me, one student said, “this is the only fun class I have this year.” I’d like to take credit for the fun, but I don’t think it’s me. We have just eight students — the most advanced math students in this entire school of math and science — and we are covering second-semester calculus at a leisurely pace. How could that not be fun (she says with a touch of geeky irony)?
Still, did I feel some swelling of my already-large head when I heard that? Yes, but it was tempered by the knowledge that I haven’t yet cracked the nut of my algebra support class. You might say that I have the most motivated students in school in that class because it is — at this point — solely populated by kids who didn’t pass ninth grade and yet returned to try again. One student was eligible for eleventh grade at a nearby traditional high school, tried it for two weeks, and decided he would take the difficult path of starting over at ninth grade.
Algebra is not quite so inherently interesting as second-semester calculus — at least not to me — and I struggle to present fractions and absolute value in ways practical rather than abstract. I am looking for ways to connect with the students and looking for ways to help them connect math to what matters to them. The key, I think, is that if I refuse to bore myself I am going to have to get them and keep them engaged with it. It’s supremely unboring to be with people who are engaged and motivated and looking for more.
I have to admit: these algebra students are already engaged and motivated but I can do better for them. I can be less boring. I can drive the boringness out of algebra support.
And I will continue to savor the easy excitement of BC Calculus because who knows when I’ll have such a delightful class to teach again.
